Evander Holyfield is highly regarded as one of the greatest fighters of his generation.
In a career that spanned 27 years, ‘The Real Deal’ became the first boxer to win the undisputed championship in two weight divisions in the ‘three belt era’, at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. Holyfield also boasts being the only fighter to win the world heavyweight championship on four separate occasions.
Throughout his glittering career, the Alabama-born Holyfield went toe-to-toe with some of the greatest heavyweights of the sports history, including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe and Michael Moorer to name a few.
Of all the hard-hitting opponents he faced as a professional, ‘The Real Deal’ has named the one man which hit him the hardest.
Speaking to FirstJab, Holyfield confirms who he felt had the hardest punch of them all – George Foreman.
“The guy that hit me the hardest was George Foreman.
He hit me one time in the 11th round and I came back to the corner and I said ‘Did he knock all my teeth out?'”
Holyfield beat Foreman in 1991 by unanimous decision. Discussing the claims that he done a lot of holding throughout that fight, ‘The Real Deal’ said this:
“In the 12th round in the fight, I held him a lot and in the press conference they said ‘You had to hold the old man!’ but I said ‘I beat him 11 rounds’
He came out that 12th round and he was trying to get me. I grabbed him and held him for 15-20 seconds.”
Holyfield retired from boxing in 2011 but returned in exhibition bouts against Mitt Romney and Vitor Belfort in 2015 and 2021 respectively.
